City Commission asked to explore KU location for new public transit hub

Lot 90, the parking lot in front of Kansas University's Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center, is highlighted on this map of the southern portion of KU's campus along Naismith Drive.

The Lawrence City Commission will take its first vote Tuesday regarding a new city transportation center proposed for the Kansas University campus.

KU and Lawrence Transit System officials plan to apply for a federal grant to aid construction of a new parking deck and bus transfer hub intended for a parking lot off Naismith Drive, south of the new KU business school and in front of Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center.

Before applying, the city and KU need to prepare preliminary plans, renderings and an estimated budget for the project, as well as an analysis on how it would affect traffic. To create those plans, the transit system must get City Commission approval to contract with professional services. The cost of creating the plans is expected to be less than $50,000.

“We really don’t have a plan right now; we have a location,” said Robert Nugent, the city’s transit administrator. “What we’re going to the commission with is to ask them to give us the latitude to hire some people and get some of this work done.”

In a memo to the City Commission, Nugent describes the proposed development as a “joint multimodal facility,” comprising a bus hub, parking deck, bicycle storage and a public waiting area with restrooms. The transit system’s administrative offices may also be housed there, the memo reads. Retail space is also a possibility.

It’s estimated the facility would take up 25 to 30 percent of the parking lot, Lot 90. KU’s master plan already designates the space as the future location of a parking garage. The memo states the project would “take advantage” of the future land use and meet “the immediate need for a transit center.”

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lot+90/@38.9531699,-95.2524935,636m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x87bf68cad934c21b:0x74eff593a2b990d1

“Operating out of a multimodal facility would greatly improve the ability of transit to serve our entire community more efficiently and effectively,” the memo reads.

City commissioners were told in October of the idea to locate a new transit hub in the parking lot. It had been determined at the time that a transit hub could not be incorporated into KU’s $350 million redevelopment plan for its Central District, so officials settled on the spot just east of the district.

The Lawrence Transit System has been searching for a location for its central hub for more than two years. Commissioners rejected a proposal last July to locate a transit hub at 21st Street and Stewart Avenue.

Tuesday’s vote will not be a decision on the new location, but an action on whether to allow the transit system to explore it as an option. If the project progresses, plans will be presented for public feedback.

The grant that Nugent and others involved in the project are hoping to win is offered through the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery program with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced Feb. 23 that a total of $500 million would be given to projects that generate economic development and improve access to “reliable, safe and affordable” transportation.

Grant applications are due April 29. Nugent said if the groups do apply for a grant, they would likely know in August or September whether one has been awarded for the project. A grant would provide 80 percent of construction costs.

The Public Transit Advisory Committee will discuss the project at its meeting directly preceding Tuesday’s City Commission meeting. City commissioners will convene at 5:45 p.m. at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.